Bloody Sunday at 61: Remembrance and Resolve

Sixty-one years ago, a little girl named Jo Ann Bland stepped onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge and into history. She never looked back – and she never stopped marching.

This year, the 61st Bloody Sunday anniversary arrived with a grief that none of us fathomed. Only weeks before the commemoration, we lost Ms. Bland, our beloved co-founder, our guide and one of the last living bridges between 1965 and today. Her absence was felt in every moment of the weekend. So was her presence.

We began with a day-long memorial service that brought together family, friends and community members to celebrate her life and legacy – a bridge crossing and reception in her honor.

Later in the week, we gathered at the future site of our park and education center, near George Washington Carver Homes where Ms. Bland grew up. We recognized 1965 foot soldier Amos Snell for his enduring contributions to the movement and presented awards to Selmians under 40 who embody the foot soldiers’ spirit through their community service.

The next generation showed up in full force. Our youth leadership group traveled from across the country, and new members were officially welcomed into the group. The young people didn’t just learn about history – they made their own. They attended the Alabama Black Mayors Conference and World Conference of Mayors, and held an advocacy day at the Alabama State House. They also participated in a mock trial, taking on roles as the defense, prosecution and jury in a case centered around the real-life events in Minneapolis involving ICE and the murder of protestor Renee Good – bringing the lessons of the past into an urgent conversation with the present.

The wider world took notice of Ms. Bland’s passing too, her decades of work within the movement, and her deep abiding love for Selma and its people. The New York Times honored her in an obituary in which fellow foot soldier Charles Mauldin described her as “the most iconic young person who became part of the movement and who continued the march forward since then.” NBC New’s Today Show remembered her as a lifelong activist “who was on the frontlines of the civil rights movement from the time she was a child.”

Ms. Bland marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 and never stopped. Her words of optimism and urgency and her unshakeable belief that change is possible are a reminder — and a charge — for us all to carry forward:

“When I wake up each morning, I feel like I’m parallel to the 60s, and that’s not a good place to be. This world should be much further than that. It gives some people a sense of hopelessness. Not me. Because I know that it’s gonna be alright. We just can’t sit back and let it keep happening.”
Jo Ann Bland